Friday 25 May 2012

Fordham Park planting

Pootling around on the bike this morning I was happy to see that the planting and turf in Fordham Park is starting to mature and really give the park some character. Of course you have to overlook the bits of rubbish blowing around the pathways - inevitable given the footfall - but in general it strikes me as a rather well-maintained public space.

At the entrance from the Woodpecker estate, the shaded grassy hillocks where the spring flowers bloom are still unmown and currently covered by some beautiful purple flowers.


Next to Deptford Green school, a whole range of planting presumably intended to withstand arid conditions is flourishing - the lavender in particular looks stunning, and I was pleased to notice a couple of small sea buckthorn bushes among the grasses and other plants. (There are lots of sea buckthorn bushes - usually fully laden with fruit for those keen foragers among my readers - around the tip of the Greenwich peninsula).


On the east edge of the park a different planting regime has been used, including some beautiful yellow broom which is just coming into flower.


The turf of the football field seems to have fully recovered from its disastrous, waterlogged start. It might have been painful to have the field fenced off for so many months, but it seems to have done the trick in giving the grass the chance to establish itself properly at last. Can't comment on the properties of the field for playing footy or other games - hopefully it's not too lumpy - but it certainly looks pretty lush.

3 comments:

Lewisham Gardens said...

I love this post!

It's enthusiastic, full of praise and so appreciative of the work that's gone into renovating that park. Its a pleasure to read!

Often it feels like our built environment is mostly unloved; people hurry by on their way to somewhere else, rarely taking the time to appreciate the improvements which have taken so much effort and money to put together.

The parks become background, just a backdrop to life going on around it.

Feeding back about the environment for positive things is rarer still.

Ive really enjoyed your enthusiasm in this post!

Anonymous said...

Brilliant post - I always love coming back home to see what new things are popping up around Deptford. Although, isn't the school called Deptford Green? Think Deptford Park school is the one near Pepys Estate :)

Deptford Dame said...

Thanks anon, I got so excited about parks I wasn't thinking about the names of the schools. Have corrected it now.